#petergorman

2016 USA Baseball Sport Development Contributors 

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer is a 15-year MLB veteran and two-time All-Star, spending his career playing for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies and the New York Mets. A member of the USA Baseball 18U National Team in 1996 and 1997, Cuddyer was then named the 1997 Virginia Player of the Year, Gatorade National Player of the Year, and was a member of USA Today’s All-Star team. He was selected ninth overall in the 1997 MLB Amateur Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

Darren Fenster

Fenster currently serves as the Manager for the Greenville Drive, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and in 2012 he launched Coaching Your Kids LLC, an organization dedicated to assisting coaches, parents and leagues in developing young players and improving their experience within the game. Fenster is a two-time All-America from Rutgers University where he established school records in hits, doubles and at-bats. He was selected in the 12th round of the 2000 MLB Amateur Draft by the Kansas City Royals and played in the minor leagues for seven years.

Dr. Peter Gorman

Dr. Peter Gorman is widely referred to as the developer of heart rate monitor technology and owns seven major patents in the United States and Canada. He was named President of Microgate USA in 2010 and became an adjunct professor at the University of Bridgeport Chiropractic College in 2012. He later joined CourtSense, developing innovative and logical progression that helps athletes attain symmetry and better coordination. Dr. Gorman has previous experience working with the United States Military, as well as sports leagues and franchises around the world including those associated with Major League Baseball, FIFA, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and the United States Olympic Committee.

Dean Jordan

Dean Jordan is the Managing Executive of Global Sports Properties and Media for Wasserman, an international sports and entertainment media, marketing, and management firm. He has led the company’s engagements for clients such as the College Football Playoff, the NCAA, the ACC, USGA, NASCAR, multiple professional franchises, venues, and private investors. He has served in executive positions within the Pittsburgh Pirates and Florida Marlins organizations and later founded North Carolina Development Baseball, Inc., an organization proving highly skilled athletes the opportunity to develop their skills and play at an elite level regardless of financial need.

Eric Kibler

Eric Kibler has been the head baseball coach at Horizon High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.), since 1981, and has led the program to six state titles during his tenure. Kibler has served on the coaching staffs of three USA Baseball National Teams, helping to lead the 2010 16U National Team to a gold medal at the Pan American "AA" Youth Championships after gaining his first USA Baseball coaching experience with the 16U National Team in 2009. He also helped lead the 18U National Team to a gold medal at the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 World Cup when he served as an assistant coach. Kibler also served as the field coordinator for the inaugural USA Baseball 14U and 17U National Team Development Programs (NTDP) in 2012. He also served as the 14U NTDP field coordinator in 2013 and 2014, and as the 17U NTDP field coordinator in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

Skip Schumaker

A two-time World Series Champion, Schumaker was drafted in the fifth round of the 2001 MLB Amateur Player Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals following his career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to his two World Series titles, Schumaker was a member of the USA Baseball 2006 Olympic Qualifying team that won a gold medal in Cuba and secured a spot in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

John Torine

Jon Torine spent 15 years as a strength and conditioning coach in the NFL before leading the physical education and athletic development for Functional Movement Systems. He also works on youth development at Legacy Global Sports and serves as a trainer and workshop instructor for the Positive Coaching Alliance. Continuing his work within the NFL, Torine was named the Director of Pro/Elite Sports with EXOS, an NFL Player’s Trust Program.

Dave Turgeon

Capacity: Physical and Neurological 

Sport Performance Lab 

By Dr. Peter Gorman and Dr. Anne Shadle / October 12, 2017 

The ability to compensate is known as an athlete’s capacity, or resistance to change.  Capacity has foundation in both the physical and neurological aspects of performance, and should be analyzed in an environment that equals or exceeds game speed.  This article will explain both the physical and neurological sides of capacity and how they can impact performance.

Physical

The center fielder is running into catch the ball and pulls his hamstring.  On the very next play the shortstop ranges left for the ball and as he does, pulls his groin. How many times have you heard a coach say, “I can’t believe what happened to my athlete.  He was in the best shape of his life, and while performing a simple task on the field, end ups with a season ending injury.”

Yes, some injuries are instantaneous- for example if you were running, stepped on a rut and twisted your ankle.  However, most injuries are accumulative in nature.  What this means is that asymmetries are slowly created in the movement cycle, until the athlete can no longer compensate.  Then, just like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, the athlete’s ability to compensate is exceeded and an injury occurs.

Why tell an athlete that their movement screen looks good on a static forward lunge, knowing that an athlete’s capacity to compensate might be fooling the examiner?  Does looking good mean that the athlete is going to perform well? Does the good-looking lunge guarantee that as the athlete accelerates at game speed they will also have equal leg speed, equal acceleration left and right and equal contact and flight time?  The 30 yard sprint (in an OptoJump system) performed by USA Baseball is a Game Speed test that exceeds an athlete’s capacity to compensate.  In less than five seconds, this test can answer many important questions on lower extremity imbalance.  Once the imbalance is shown to exist, THEN employing various movement screens can help pinpoint the cause.  

It was not until increased demand and exertion was applied that imbalances appeared and potential injuries were brought to light. Knowing that athletes harbor varying degrees of capacity to compensate for their imbalances, we have to test the athlete at the highest demand possible so that we are looking at the true athlete and NOT the compensatory process.  This high demand testing is designed to exceed an athlete’s capacity, thus eliminating the compensatory ability to mask asymmetries and imbalances.  Remember, we never want the game to be the evaluator.  Often in this high-tech world, many are still marveling at an athlete’s sprint time, not knowing if the fundamental movements are symmetrical or not.  It is all about capacity… we must identify and correct all asymmetries so that they do not accumulate and eventually result in injury caused by simple and/or complex game movements.

Neurological

Ted Williams, known to many as the greatest hitter of all time once said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”  Handling stressful conditions, controlling emotions, suppressing distractors, and quick speed of processing are just a few of the neurological functions that the wonderful game of baseball will constantly test in the game.  What we find is a person can be prepared physically to perfection, but performance will suffer if their brain is not functioning at its optimal capacity.

We now know in neuroscience that the amygdala is the emotional center of the brain.  Every region of the brain can function normally or in standards of deviation above and below normal that affect its function.  Without diving too deep, we have also learned that the amygdala has two other sub regions that control emotions.  As heartrate increases the amygdala can change its firing pattern.  This will allow emotions to change and in some cases, rage, thus creating a more indecisive and inefficient player.  All players must know that training their brain is as important, if not more so, than training their body.  

Each region of the brain can deviate from normalcy, lessening overall brain balance, function and capacity.  At the same time brain speed can slow, which in effect also lessen the athlete’s capacity to perform optimally.  As the brain goes out of balance, this can reflect itself in personality changes, or one’s ability to command life’s situations.   The way your body can slow and go out of balance, your brain can also slow and go out of balance.  As the brain slows, it effects its processing speed and reaction time will increase, in turn effecting all aspects of performance.  It is obvious that if an athlete has tremendous brain speed capacity, they would be able to compensate for a longer period of time before a serious condition is recognized. Anytime we determine brain speed is slowing, we must ask the question why, and make sure that we identify the problem. The answer may be as simple as improving hydration, or getting a better night’s sleep.  If a more serious condition is developing, it is always better to understand it early on, so that the most precise and effective treatment can be given.

Much like increasing demand and load can unearth imbalances physically, the same can be done neurologically.  To make sure that we are identifying, nourishing, and balancing the brain properly, we recommend the BrainHQ.com cognitive platform.  Brain HQ has numerus validated, peer-reviewed published papers which ensures that their cognitive trainings are as effective as possible. Designed by brain scientists, Brain HQ exercises have shown to improve a host of cognitive abilities directly related to sports performance like reaction time, processing speed, visual acuity, attention, and memory.  Improvements in cognitive abilities and capacity can not only lead to more effective and efficient on-field performance, but also transfer to life’s daily tasks.

At USA Baseball, we take pride in not only assessing the physical attributes of our athletes, but also the neurological side as well. Evaluation and attention to both the physical and neurological attributes of the athlete is highly recommended in any sport.  By being more aware of your physical and neurological strengths or weaknesses, all athletes will be better prepared to help reduce injury and reach their own unique OPTIMAL performance.  

For more resources, check out these links:

Agility Drills Focus The Mental Game Mind-Body Training Principles for Mental Training Principles of Off-Season Strength and Conditioning Sport Vision Training Change-of-Direction Drills Online Education Center Amateur Resource Center USA Baseball Mobile Coach

Dr. Peter Gorman is widely referred to as the developer of heart rate monitor technology and owns seven major patents in the United States and Canada. He was named President of Microgate USA in 2010 and became an adjunct professor at the University of Bridgeport Chiropractic College in 2012. He later joined CourtSense, developing innovative and logical progression that helps athletes attain symmetry and better coordination. Dr. Gorman has previous experience working with the United States Military, as well as sports leagues and franchises around the world including those associated with Major League Baseball, FIFA, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and the United States Olympic Committee.